Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries
By David Selby & Fumiyo Kagawa, UNESCO, Paris/UNICEF Geneva. 2012. 207pp..jpg)
Across thirty case studies, the study examines disciplinary, interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary manifestations of DRR in the curriculum, strategies for introducing disaster risk reduction into school curricula, pedagogies employed in teaching disaster risk reduction, teacher professional development, DRR learning outcomes and approaches to mainstreaming DRR in the school system. It is argued that DRR tends to appear in a narrow band of school subjects, typically the physical and natural sciences, with little horizontal integration or learning reinforcement across the curriculum. Vertical (through the grade levels) integration of DRR learning is likewise thin. Also, although DRR ambitions are oriented towards competency-building and learner engagement in and with the community, the limited use of participatory pedagogies rather stifles the ambition. Expressed aspirations notwithstanding, forms of learning assessment currently being employed do not lend themselves to measuring whether capacities and dispositions for disaster risk reduction are being cultivated but more or less adhere to traditional testing of knowledge. Systematic professional development directed towards developing the 'DRR facilitative and reflective practitioner' is called for. In short, while there are noteworthy examples of curriculum development, use of active pedagogies and successful movement to scale, there is still much to do if the commitment of the ISDR Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction to integrating DRR into school curricula worldwide by 2015 is to be realised.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002170/217036e.pdf
http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/trainings-events/edu-materials/v.php?id=26470
http://www.educationandtransition.org/resources/unicefunesco-mapping-of-global-drr-integration-into-education-curricula-sustainability-frontiers/
http://www.ineesite.org/uploads/documents/store/DRR_in_school_curricula_-_mapping_30_countries.pdf
Disaster Risk Reduction Education in Vanuatu: Pilot Curriculum Materials, Teachers' Guide and Evaluation Instruments
By Fumiyo Kagawa & David Selby, Save the Children Australia. Port Vila, Vanuatu, 2012 (May), 125pp.
The outcome of a consultancy undertaken by the Sustainability Frontiers team in April and early May 2012, the document was developed in preparation for a Save the Children/Ministry of Education pilot curriculum study involving ten primary schools on Efate Island, Vanuatu, to take place in June and July 2012. It contains some twenty-five learning activities under three headings: Awareness-raising activities; Hazard-specific activities; Resilience-building activities. The activities include: brainstorming sessions; pair, small group and whole class discussion formats; experiential learning units; role play, drama and puppetry; in-the-field community learning; action learning within community partnerships for disaster risk reduction. It also includes evaluation instruments for the pilot as well as instruments for assessing student learning. Advice is given to teachers on classroom management and facilitation of the activities, their roles and responsibilities in data collection and evaluation, and on deploying the DRR student learning assessment instruments.
For the document, go to: http://www.savethechildren.org.au/images/content/where-we-work/vanuatu/Vanuatu_DRR_Curriculum_Activities_11May_20012.pdf
Disaster Risk Reduction Education in Vanuatu: A Baseline Study for Save the Children Australia
By Fumiyo Kagawa & David Selby, Save the Children Australia, Port Vila, Vanuatu, 2012 (April), 71pp.
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The outcome of a consultancy undertaken by the Sustainability Frontiers team in March and April 2012, the study identifies utilized and unutilized windows of opportunity for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) education within the present Vanuatu primary curriculum and the potential for DRR and CCA learning in the soon-to-be-launched reformed primary curriculum. The present state of the art of disaster-related pedagogy in ten pilot schools is reviewed as are the perspectives of pilot school teachers and students on the quality and relevance of present and potential DRR/CCA curriculum, teachers and students all speaking to the importance of fuller and adequately resourced curriculum. Policy, planning and implementation aspects are also considered, the study ending with a SWOT analysis of disaster risk reduction education in Vanuatu and recommendations for the upcoming Save the Children curriculum development project and for its June/July pilot phase (see above entry).
For the report, go to: http://www.savethechildren.org.au/images/content/where-we-work/vanuatu/Vanuatu_DRR_Curriculum_Baseline_2012.pdf
Building Capacity in Development Education Project: Phase 2 Evaluation.
By David Selby & Fumiyo Kagawa, Centre for Global Education, Belfast, 2010 (November), 87pp.
The outcome of an evaluation consultancy undertaken by a Sustainability Frontiers team, this report offers an in-depth evaluation of the second phase (2008-11) of the all-Ireland Building Capacity in Development Education Project of the Centre for Global Education, Belfast. After the Executive Summary, there is an introduction giving the background to the project, a section on evaluation methodology, and then sections on the three project strands: the bi-annual education journal, Policy & Practice: A Development Education Review; the annual conference series; the bi-annual seminar series. The report then stands away from the particular strands and looks at the project as a whole. It ends with recommendations for strengthening each strand and the broader capacity building agenda of the project in the proposed third phase. In the acknowledgements, the Centre for Global Education writes: ‘We wish to extend our thanks to Sustainability Frontiers for the professionalism, courtesy and rigour that they have brought to the evaluation of the project and the presentation of the report’ (p.ii).
For the evaluation report, go to: http://www.centreforglobaleducation.com/node/62
